


The Dilemma of Tanaka Minoru

by B_Ray452



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Accidental Acquisition of Power, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Cults, Death Threats, Dubious Morality, Horror, Implied/Referenced Character Death, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Moral Dilemmas, Panic Attacks, Paranoia, Paranormal, Religious Cults, Suicidal Thoughts, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22566298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Ray452/pseuds/B_Ray452
Summary: Minoru gains an aversion to touching money and a new problem...How to get rid of the Death Note.Any human who uses the Death Note meets an unfortunate end of course.Major Spoilers for the new Death Note one-shot (created February 4th of 2020).
Comments: 49
Kudos: 148





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to get this out my system to continue on with other works of mine. I hope you enjoy. I may or may not make this a series. I'm not sure.
> 
> Spoilers for the new Death Note one-shot.

Ryuk knew he wasn’t supposed to go back to Minoru, but the teen was the only one in a long time he had so much fun with. It would be a shame to write his name down. All that amusement down the drain. All those apples he still hasn’t eaten were rotting before his eyes at the thought.

Besides, if the kid was really as smart as Ryuk thought…

This would be no problem for one Minoru Tanaka.

Ryuk cackled and flew down into the ground. He approached the Tanaka house, coming out of the ground and into the living room. He saw Minoru preparing to leave, his life span quickly spinning down like a lotto machine ready to spit out the unlucky numbers to the gambler.

Ka-ching! Ryuk laughed.

Then he brought the Death Note up and down onto Minoru’s head with a thunk.

Minoru stumbled, whether it was from the force of Ryuk hitting him with the book or the memories doesn’t matter. What does matter at this moment to Minoru was the fact that Ryuk came back.

“I told you to never bother me again Ryuk,” Minoru grumbled and put his backpack on. “I thought I said to give the Death Note to the president a month ago—”

“That’s the thing. You see…” Ryuk interrupted with a grin from ear to ear, “...The Shinigami King added a new rule I thought you’d like to know.” Ryuk waved the Death Note around before opening up to a new rule page.

“A human who buys or sells a Death Note will die…?” Minoru read aloud. “Doesn’t that mean I should already be dead? I sold it and haven’t died, or is it that the president will die now?”

Ryuk shook his head and closed the book. He held out his gangly hand.

Minoru’s eyes narrowed before he sighed, “Right right, you need an apple.”

It wasn’t hard for Minoru to grab one from the kitchen and toss it over to Ryuk.

“Now talk.”

Ryuk munched on the apple, licking his fingers. “Yes, I would have missed these,” he said between his chewing. He licked his teeth, now finished. “It applies that way now, but for you and the president guy. If he accepted the Death Note, he would have died. And when you accept the money…”

“Not remembering doesn’t make me immune to that does it?”

“Exactly.”

Minoru averted his eyes down towards the floor. He couldn't give up the Death Note again, but he can’t have Ryuk following him everywhere. He would also forget to not “accept” the money if he gave it up. A notebook that can only bring pain and suffering…

He thought he had the right answer last time, but what can he do now?

He can’t give it up. He can’t sell it. He has to keep it.

His plan failed failed failedfailedfailed.

Minoru took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. No time to panic now.

“Ryuk, does… does the rule only apply to when I obtain the money myself? What about my mom? What if I use a card to buy things? Online transactions? Can I touch it with gloves on—”

“You have a lot of questions don’t you Minoru? You’re going to need a lot of apples for that.”

Minoru wanted to scream. “How many apples do you want?”

Ryuk hummed, “Let’s see… an orchard.”

“You, what? An orchard?” Minoru was stunned, flabbergasted, but he should have known. “You’re asking that to test out the new rule, aren’t you?” So he’s a lab rat now, no—

A human sacrifice.

Ryuk just cackled, his chest heaving as he bent over in laughter. “Two years of apple withdrawals! Two years!”

Minoru grit his teeth and then relaxed his jaw. He needs to stay calm and collected. Calm and collected. Breathe in and out. He’ll be okay. He’ll think of something.

“Can you at least tell me if L knows about this?”

Ryuk shrugged and answered, “Maybe, maybe not. The only person who knows the Death Note is not in the president’s possession is the president himself... as far as I know.”

Minoru sat down onto the couch, his head cradled in his hands. His heart pounded as he forced himself to think of anything, anything at all. What was the right answer?

He lifted his head up and set his hands down onto his thighs. In and out, in and out. Think think think! Think damn it! 

Minoru needs more information, but how could he get it without a bunch of apples? “Maybe,” he started to say, “maybe I could just not—”  


“—Not use the notebook? That’s just asking me to kill you for being so boring.”

Minoru stared at the Shinigami. Is this what Kira had to go through? Is this why Kira started killing people? To just amuse this specter. No, Kira wanted to create a different system of justice. This probably just fueled the person behind the Kira mask even more, unlike Minoru who didn’t have that drive. He didn’t have a big dream to change the world before the notebook, and he didn’t really want to even when he had it.

He was just a teen who wanted to live comfortably... to have his mom not be worried about the rising price of everything. He didn’t want to worry about his friends not being able to get away from their problems. The side effect of many people getting money was just icing on the cake. If they misused their money, that wasn’t his fault. But he gave them the means to get out of their problems and their worries. Even if he didn’t remember, he knew he would have been happy and content before he died.

He didn’t care if Ryuk gave the Death Note over to the president. He wouldn’t have been able to use it without repercussions since the situation was public. Minoru didn’t have to worry about the Death Note falling into another person’s hands that he didn’t know. If it did, it would be America’s fault.

Now he has this burden to shoulder as the people—the country he did this for is happier than him as they celebrate this new Kira. He either has to either amuse Ryuk enough to not die... or die now and have the Death Note be given to someone else.

What’s the right answer to his dilemma?

Minoru's numbers stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

It took a while for Minoru to collect himself and make a plan. If he died from this, then there was no way he would have been able to get around the new rule.

He looked momentarily at the box his mother was holding out to him. He just needed to grab it to see if he would die.

“I honestly don’t know why you spent your money on gloves first…” his mother, Kimi, continued on talking with a slight smile.

He just blankly stared at the box. It was fancy like he expected. High quality and recommended by those who love to wear gloves all the time. He just needed to grab it.

“Minoru?”

He blinked rapidly and shook his head. “Sorry sorry, thank you so much for getting them for me.”

Kimi laughed, “Oh you lazy boy, I’m just glad you didn’t spend it on a bunch of those games like Shiho’s son. Speaking of—”

Hearing his mom’s laughter made his heart squeeze as he finally reached out and grabbed the box.

Nothing happened. He was okay. Maybe if he touched the gloves, the item he wanted, he would die. He can do that in his room though. Away from his mom.

“Sounds like he isn’t being very wise with his money,” Minoru said, half-listening to his mom and directing his gaze towards the stairs.

“Oh well, at least he and you are still going to high school! Takada’s daughter just refuses to go back…” she continued on a little longer before giving him a knowing smile. She then left to go put down the other bags she brought in.

Minoru took the chance to quickly go up the stairs. The gentle thumping of his feet on the wood was drowned out by the rapid beat of his heart in his ears. He entered his room and closed the door. He took a deep breath before sitting down on his bed, trying to ignore the specter watching some weird video or another on his computer.

Even with his attempt, Ryuk just turned towards him and looked down at the box. “Will you hurry up already? No use wasting my time,” he said to Minoru and chuckled when he slowly opened the box. “If you die, you die, no use in prolonging it.”

“Are you saying I will die from this?” Minoru asked, but he wasn’t looking for an answer. So he did just as Ryuk said, got over his fear and grabbed the gloves. He held his breath and waited for some piercing pain to shoot through his heart. 

Nothing happened. He was okay it seemed. The tension in his body flowed out and he slumped down onto his bed. The covers smothered his face, but he didn’t care since he was still alive!

Ryuk just laughed at him and poked his prone form. “Come on, come on now. Let’s get going with the other stuff you have planned. I’m getting bored here.”

Minoru lifted his head and blankly stared at Ryuk. “Like I won’t find a bunch of conspiracy and drama videos in my search history,” he grumbled out. He got up from the bed and gently held the gloves. The smooth and soft fabric felt ridiculously expensive, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t spend that kind of money… at least through his mom. He slowly put on the gloves, flexing his hands and enjoying the way the cloth folded. Sleek matte black. If he doesn’t die from his next test he might need to get a few more like this.

“Alright Ryuk, move over from the desk so I can buy something.”

“Ooh buy some apples!”

Minoru turned in the chair towards Ryuk with a look. “We can just buy some from the market?”

He shook his head, “No no no, I want good apples. The best someone with an apple addiction could get.”

Minoru bit his lip and turned towards the computer. “Maybe Sekai Ichi apples…?”

“Sekai Ichi? World number one apples?”

“Yeah, they are grown right here in Japan around the fall time. One apple can weigh a kilogram and are about 2100 yen each,” Minoru replied, clicking around the screen. “It’s fall so they should be in stock somewhere… and money isn’t a problem anymore.”

He found a few sellers, looked at each review for quality. All of them were good so he chose the one closest to him. A bushel of them should be fine, that would be about 22 Sekai Ichi apples. Minoru cringed at the price total: 46,200 yen. Despite that, he put in the order for Ryuk, tentatively clicking the purchase button.

The page refreshed itself and confirmed his order.

It might have been a fluke, but…

“Well…” Minoru sighed, shoulders slumping down, “At least I can buy things online without a problem unless I die when I get what I bought... since Mom didn’t buy it this time…” However, his concern over the matter vanished mostly. It was out of his hands. He had a month to come to terms with the matter before the money could be withdrawn from the Yotsuba bank, and he used all that time to think of the different ways he could die. At this point, it was just testing the new rule out to see how he could live life. Becoming a hermit would suck, but if he had to he had to.

“The Shinigami King isn’t going to change the rules up again will he?” Minoru asked. He would be surprised if Ryuk answered though.

“Hmm, well, he can’t change rules without informing every Shinigami about it,” Ryuk answered with a grin, tugging at Minoru’s arm to get him off the computer.

Minoru got up so Ryuk could go back on and went to his bed. It was a better answer than nothing, he mused. He idly scrolled on his phone, looking up orchard properties. He couldn’t buy any land online and without certain permits. He had to hand the money in person as well. Japan all required land purchasing to mostly be in person, and Minoru was not going to spend more money on a middle-man. A billion yen might have a person live in relatively good circumstances for a while, but it could easily go down the drain quickly from rash spending and if someone had kids or relatives to take care of. He needed to be careful to not ruin the life he wanted before this stupid, stupid new rule came to be in order to appease Ryuk.

More researching, more planning.

That isn’t even taking into account the scrutiny the Yotsuba bank would get from L or any other person interested in the new Kira.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt the need to name Minoru's mom in this fic at least. I gave her the name Kimi (木実), and she shares the last kanji with Minoru (実). Her name is made up of tree (木) and fruit/truth (実). Sekai Ichi apples do exist, and the information in the fic is as accurate as possible (though I calculated the bushels). 
> 
> Finals have finished, and I passed despite everything being moved to online classes. I hope everyone has been doing well in school/with work despite what has been happening. I should be writing more since I have time now :D
> 
> If anyone wants to discuss ideas or put one out, feel free to comment!


	3. Chapter 3

Minoru sleepily got ready for school the next day. Fumbling with the uniform he grumbled, “Shouldn’t have stayed up so late—” With a great yawn he finally finished and attempted to ignore the specter still browsing on his computer as he exited his room.

His mom was waiting in the kitchen at the bottom of the stairs with food ready. The smell of omelets reached out to his nose as he descended.

“Good morning Minoru!” Kimi greeted him, gesturing to the small table with food. “Your hair isn’t even combed, did you stay up too late?”

Minoru hummed in reply and sat down to inhale the food. “Thanks for the food, I need to hurry to school now.”

Kimi tutted and handed him a bento box. “Oh, where are your gloves?” She pointed out when Minoru reached out to take the lunch box, “I thought you bought them to wear at school silly boy.”

He felt the blood drain out of his face as nausea suddenly ruined any good feelings left from the homemade breakfast. “I, uh, just forgot! Let me go get them—”

Minoru could hear Ryuk laugh and laugh when he slammed his door open to scramble for his gloves.

Already this day was not looking good for him.

However, the beginning of school seemed calm for the most part. While there was chatter about Kira this and Yotsuba that, nothing out of the expected happened really. It was the best Minoru could hope for with a Shinigami hanging around.

And then lunch happened. Minoru liked to sit down in an area where he could see and hear some people, but never really interacted with his peers beyond surface-level topics. He preferred to play on his phone or agonize over his grades. Now he did both and also agonized over the Death Note and many other things. A certain downgrade. But even more of a downgrade was Shiho’s son, Denchi, was trying to talk to him about some gossip. He just wanted to be left alone to drown in his misery!

“...It’s still crazy how those old sites that used to host those ‘Kira memorials’ and requests are popping up again! Straight out of the early 2000s, graphics and all. So lame—”

Minoru stopped tapping away on his phone. “Wait what?!” He knew he shouldn’t have let Ryuk hog his computer!

Denchi nodded, looking up from his DS. “Yeah dude, I thought you knew about this. You were always the one lurking on the internet.” He put his game away and brought out his phone. He fiddled with it before showing some screenshots to Minoru. “Look here, this one was super popular back in the day! Keeps getting taken down though when it does pop back up. Managed to get some shots of the comments though, pretty wild…”

Minoru zoned out Denchi’s voice as he swiped through the images. A few messages seemed just general praises of Kira, but a more recent one…

“To our Lord and Savior Kira. The One who is Justice against evil. The One who is Justice for the people. The One and only who showed the world the Truth of their Justice system. We Love You and wish to reach out to You. Kira, we have been diligently upholding Your Justice and holding our own accountable for their misdeeds. Our system is still rotten; it is rotten in that people cannot learn from their mistakes and continually deafen themselves to the cry of those they deem below them in the name of ‘tradition’ and say ‘that’s the way things are.’ Kira, these people need to be shown—”

Minoru could hardly bear to read the rest. “They sound like something alright…” he said, eyebrows furrowing.

Denchi nodded, “Yeah yeah! I mean, if they didn’t sound so fanatical a lot more people would agree with them. I will say it’s fascinating to talk to them. Good ideas, but poor, uh, execution…”

“I guess they never really faded away like Kira did before…” Minoru mumbled, pulling out his own phone to ignore the matter until later. He could hear Ryuk laughing from wherever he was hiding.

After the school day had ended, Minoru quickly returned home to go supply a grumpy Ryuk with some “regular” red apples as Ryuk calls them. Minoru fiddled with the shoestrings in a hurry before giving up and just taking them off in the doorway. As he put them away, he noticed a couple extra pairs that were not there when he left this morning. A faint feeling of anxiety settled in his stomach at the thought of visitors now.

Slowly he entered the hallway and followed the sound of conversation into the kitchen area. As soon as he peeked his head into the kitchen, his mother stopped the conversation she was having with the other lady with a smile.

“Just in time Minoru! I’m sure you remember Takada, you and her daughter, Miwa, used to play at the park together. Ah, such nice times…” Kimi trailed off and shook her head. “Anyway, I’ve sent Miwa up. Why don’t you go talk to her?”

Ryuk huffed out a laugh as he floated off to sneak an apple, and Minoru opened his mouth to question why exactly his mother sent her up to his room. He needs that area for Ryuk to entertain himself! The looks on both of the adults' faces made him pause in his actions. “Is there something…wrong?” he asked, not liking where this was going. Why did the situation set off alarms in his head?

Kimi pursed her lips. “Well, you do remember that yesterday I said Takada’s daughter hasn’t gone back to school since the whole New Kira thing right? We were thinking—”

“Please talk some sense into my reckless daughter. She just doesn’t listen to me or her father!” Takada said. “I’m hoping another teen can get it through her thick skull that staying in school is for the best if she wants a good future. Oh Kimi, Miwa is so bright, but she just keeps talking back…”

And just like that Minoru was in and out of the conversation without a say in the matter or even able to reply to the “request.”

Damn this day could not give him a break, he thought, staring blankly at Ryuk scarfing down the apples as fast as possible; Kimi and Shiho too busy talking to take notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Denchi (電池) literally means battery. Electricity (電) and pond, reservoir (池)  
> Miwa (美和) is beauty (美) and harmony, peace, soften (和).
> 
> I cut the chapter in half because one, I need to edit the other half still and make sure it makes sense. Two, I wanted to get this out quickly!
> 
> I hope everyone has been well, and sorry for the wait. The pandemic and so much other stuff just... yeah. A lot of bad things happened, but I'm good! I do hate being in the "essential workers" category during this whole thing though. Companies just do not care about you. I vaguely remember having to pull 10+ hour shifts at the store I worked for a couple of weeks straight. I don't think my body could handle that cause I quite literally was in too much pain to write! It sucked! But I'm good now, school has settled down, the vaccine is coming/is out in places, things seem to be looking up. Please accept this chapter as I edit the next one. I'll probably come back and edit this more in the afternoon/eveing after school.
> 
> I feel like my writing style has changed or at least something is happening. But maybe that is me being paranoid since I have not posted in a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Please give me any critiques or corrections! Also, tell me what you liked or just comment about the new one-shot (I love it so so so much).
> 
> Maybe I'll continue this, especially since I've figured out what days I can write again. For now though. This is good enough.
> 
> Edit: Looks like I'm continuing this!


End file.
